New Orleans gets credit upgrade

NEW ORLEANS — The city of New Orleans has increased its credit rating from A3 to A2, Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced Tuesday. Here's what that means:

Cities (such as New Orleans) issue bonds to pay for infrastructure projects such as road repairs, school development and airport construction. The credit rating is designed to figure out how likely the city is to pay that bond back, which is similar to how a credit rating works for you or a business.

Gilbert Montano, who is in charge of balancing the city's budget as its chief administrative officer, pointed out the similarities during the press conference.

"It's technical and it's complicated, but at the end of the day it's really our credit rating for the city," he said. "For the average person, they know how important (a) credit score is when they go to buy things, when they go to finance things."

"It allows us more than ever, in regards to our credit rating, to leverage our bonding capacity," Cantrell said.

Basically, it'll be easier for the city's department of public works to pay for projects throughout the city. For the average resident, it may sound technical and far off. And it might change nothing. But it could also make it easier for the city to pave over potholes, or to clean catch basins.

"These are the key elements," Montano said. "Not always the sexiest part of a city's organization, but the financial stability in the organization as a whole ... is vital for the sustainability and the existence of the city."